


Rescued from the Science Lab

by writteninweakness



Category: Amnesia (Game & Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Human Experimentation, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Relationship, incomplete au start with some additional scenes beyond a first chapter, kent's parents adopted everyone, originally posted on tumblr but i no longer have a tumblr, the heroine was actually cloned, the ships aren't fully developed because this was meant to be a slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninweakness/pseuds/writteninweakness
Summary: Kent's parents, scientists at a research facility, stumbled onto illegal research that led to them freeing several children and going into hiding with them to keep them safe.Though they're now grown, that threat is still out there, and more trouble lies under the surface of their seemingly happy lives.
Relationships: Heroine/Ikki (Amnesia), Heroine/Kent (Amnesia), Heroine/Shin (Amnesia), Heroine/Toma (Amnesia), Heroine/Ukyo (Amnesia), Ikki & Kent (Amnesia)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Part One/Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this one is... well, it actually started because I love the idea of Kent and Ikki as brothers. I didn't go for a typical route of them being adopted for this, though, not by any means. The other thing I was doing was writing the heroine with someone other than Kent, but then there's still a heroine (Kokoa) who does become romantically involved with him.
> 
> It was an experiment. It didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped, since it was another started when other things were already in progress and was set aside to finish those other things. I later went back and wrote what is now the first chapter, but I did not get past more than that.
> 
> The names for the other four heroines are: 
> 
> Shin’s Heroine: Aine / 愛音 – “sound of love”  
> Ikki’s Heroine: Naruki / 愛姫 – “beloved princess”  
> Ukyo’s Heroine: Yumeka / 夢叶 – “dreams come true”  
> Toma’s Heroine: Minori / 望愛 – literally “love of the full moon;” also “full of love”

* * *

“ _I am pleased you wish to continue learning,” his mother said with a smile, one shared by his father even as he took the book from Kent’s hands. “But it is late, and you need to sleep as well. You’re still young yet and growing. You’ll have time to read it tomorrow.”_

_Kent knew she was right, but he didn’t want them taking his book from him. He wasn’t tired, and he didn’t seem to need that much sleep. He could stay up for hours reading and not feel tired. He had tried to tell them this before, but they always countered with statistics about how many hours a child his age should sleep and enforced a rather strict bedtime any time they weren’t distracted by their own work._

_He almost wished they’d been off in the lab tonight. That book was just starting to get really interesting. The subject, of course, had made him curious from the beginning, but the actual applications of it hadn’t been discussed until the fourth chapter, and he wanted to know more._

“ _We are both very proud of your mind,” his father said, smiling. “However, you are even less mindful of your limitations than your mother is.”_

“ _Daichi,” his mother protested, but her tone was mocking. She wasn’t as offended as she pretended. This was a joke between them and tended to end with a display of affection Kent didn’t need to see. “Please. You are no better. If you think you can solve a math problem, you will stay awake for days.”_

_His father nodded, accepting that familiar criticism. “Yes, it would seem our son inherited that trait from both of us. It’s in his genes.”_

_Kent grimaced. “If you’re going to kiss, can you do it somewhere not in my room?”_

_They laughed, and were his parents not rational people and scientists, one of them might have reached over and ruffled his hair. He’d seen other parents do that to their children when he was younger, before they ended up living in the complex next to the lab and he didn’t see any other children at all. Many of the other researchers here were single or divorced, and others who were married didn’t live with their spouses. Kent didn’t even know if they had children. No one talked about that with him, and for the most part, people saw him as a miniature version of his parents. He wasn’t really a child to any of them since he could usually understand their experiments as well as any of the other researchers._

“ _I think we’re embarrassing our son.”_

“ _You are,” Kent said. “I’m past old enough where I need to be told to go to bed or be tucked in, not that you do that, but other kids used to talk about it, and I don’t need it, either. I can see to my own needs. And I’m not tired.”_

_His mother gave him another smile, touching his cheek. “You should be, and even if you are not, you should rest.”_

“ _Yes. You are our favorite test subject, after all. We have to have you fresh and ready for more experiments in the morning.”_

_Kent shook his head, not sure why they thought that joke was funny, but they’d used it for years, especially at bedtime. He didn’t think it was amusing, but he didn’t hate it, either, since he knew it was their way of showing him affection._

_His mother pulled the blanket up over him and patted it before walking to his father. He shut off the light and took her hand. They walked out together, taking Kent’s book with them. He grumbled to himself and tried to get comfortable, knowing it would be a long time before he fell asleep._

* * *

_Kent jerked awake with the boom of the thunder, frowning. He knew he was not all that light of a sleeper, so it didn’t make sense that he would wake up just from the storm. He’d fallen asleep to the rain, and he’d never had trouble sleeping through storms before now._

_He grimaced, deciding he’d read a different book for a while, but when he tried to sit up, not only would his body barely respond to his commands, he felt a pressure holding him down. He reached for it but couldn’t lift his upper arms. He craned his head, feeling dizzy, and stared in disbelief at the straps holding him to the table._

_Was he still dreaming somehow? He didn’t dream often, he knew that, but this one seemed too vivid to be anything other than real, and he was starting to feel a panic as he got a better look around him. No, this was not his room. He thought it had to be some part of the lab, but it wasn’t one of the rooms he knew. The colors were different, marked with the one that signaled the higher level of restriction, one he didn’t even think his parents had clearance for, but… what was he doing here?_

_He couldn’t have wandered here by accident. Even if he’d sleepwalked—and Kent had never known himself to do so before—he couldn’t have gotten in because of the security. What was this?_

“ _Oh. You’re awake. That sedative should have kept you down for a few hours yet, and yet you’re conscious. That’s an interesting development. I’ll make a note of it.”_

“ _What are you doing?”_

_The man above him smiled, but it wasn’t like the way his parents smiled. There was nothing behind it, just an emptiness. No. Worse. Malice. Kent could tell this man was dangerous. “I’ve just been preparing another little test for you. No need to fret. I’m sure you’ll forget it as you did the others.”_

_Kent squirmed against the straps, shaking his head. “No. I don’t—let me go. You can’t do this. Experimenting on children is unethical. You have to let me go.”_

“ _I think not. I need to solve this problem, and you are suitable enough for the task. You’ll do.”_

_Kent yanked on the straps, feeling a bit desperate. “You can’t. Let me go.”_

“ _It’s far too late for that. I’ve already given you the first dose, and it’s now time for the second.”_

_What? How long had Kent been here? He’d thought it was only a little while, but if he’d already been given a dose… No, he didn’t remember that. When had that happened? How had they gotten him out of his room? His parents had a secured apartment._

“ _You can’t,” Kent said. “Even if you do… you won’t get away with it. I’ll tell, and your research will be meaningless because you went about it against the law and—”_

_The man covered his mouth, and Kent tensed, struggling even harder than before. “I have the authority to do what I please to whomsoever I please so long as I deliver results. That means you’re mine. I doubt you’ll even remember this in the morning, so silence yourself.”_

_Kent shook his head, but the man stabbed a syringe in his arm and he screamed. He couldn’t free himself, but that didn’t mean he didn’t try, useless as it was, panicked as he was. He had no idea what was in that syringe. It could have been poison. Or nothing, but even air could be dangerous if used in a certain way._

_He could die here._

_Thunder boomed outside again, and it seemed to set off whatever was in that needle, spreading pain through his body, overwhelming him in agony until it was all dark._

* * *

“ _Kent? Come on, Kent. Wake up. Look at me. Please.”_

_His mother sounded frantic, and Kent couldn’t understand why. Everything was fuzzy again, and he felt sore all over like he’d been… been what, exactly? He’d never had much occasion to do sports. He’d never been in any kind of severe accident where he’d been injured. This feeling should be—was—completely foreign to him, and yet… he felt it, like he’d been beaten._

“ _Mother?”_

“ _Oh, thank goodness,” his mother said, clutching him against her. “You were so still when we found you. I was afraid… Afraid you were gone.”_

_This was strange, and he was becoming more aware of the pain the longer he was awake. He did not feel well. “What… happened…?”_

_His mother didn’t answer. He didn’t know if that meant she didn’t know or she didn’t want to tell him. She looked away, making Kent frown. He needed to know what happened to him._

“ _Daichi?”_

“ _There are other children here.”_

“ _What? How many?”_

“ _At least seven so far.”_

_What his mother said then wasn’t fit to repeat, and Kent wasn’t sure she’d even said it. That didn’t sound like her at all. He must have misheard somehow._

“ _We have to get them all out of here.”_

“ _We don’t have much time,” his father said. “When those guards wake, they will raise an alarm. If we are found here—”_

“ _They took our son. We don’t even know what they did to him,” she said, shaking her head. “No, we have to get all those children out of here, and we have to get their research, too, and destroy this place.”_

“ _We will have to carry some of them. And we need to break into their computers—”_

“ _I can do that. It’s just math, and I won’t have to move much… why does the pain all seem to be there? That’s not… the puncture wound is in my arm… And… my glasses?”_

“ _They left them behind. Tried to tell us you must have wandered off as little boys do, but you’re not like other little boys and you wouldn’t have left your glasses behind. Idiots. Took us for fools, but we are not fools, and they will pay for this.”_

“ _Father, she sounds… scary.”_

“ _She’s formidable. That’s why I married her,” his father said, lifting Kent up from the table. “I’ll put you by the computer, but don’t push yourself. We will just destroy the system if we run out of time, but if you can… we need to know what they did to the other children.”_

_Kent nodded. “I will copy the data.”_

_His father touched his head. “You rest as best you can. We’re going to get the others.”_

_His mother nodded. “We will get you all out of here.”_

* * *

“Nightmares again?”

Kent put a hand to his head, grimacing at the sound of the voice far too close to him. If he opened his eyes, he was going to find Ikkyu leaning over him, and that was never a pleasant sight to wake up to, regardless of what he or many women might claim. Not that they actually knew what it was like to wake up to Ikkyu—they just wanted to, far too many for anyone’s comfort.

It was hardly his fault. Whatever they’d intended to do when they’d experimented on Ikkyu, they’d turned his eyes into some sort of hypnotic device, and none of the studies Kent or his parents did had been able to reverse its effect. Almost every woman who looked at Ikkyu succumbed to a delusion that she was in love with him.

At least the ones in this house were immune. Otherwise it would be almost impossible to tolerate, even if he could not control it and had no choice in acquiring it.

“Go away.”

“Definitely nightmares. You’re very grumpy this morning.”

“You are excessively perky this morning.” Kent swore that the other man must be bouncing with excitement, and that was never a good sign. “Why aren’t you bothering Shin with this sort of behavior?”

“If I bother Shin, I have to deal with Toma. I’d rather not deal with Toma.” Ikkyu made that sound surprisingly logical, even if it wasn’t. He did have a point, since provoking Toma was foolish after the things the lab had done to him. “Besides, you’re my favorite brother, so why wouldn’t I come to you?”

“Knowing that I was up late in the lab working on a project?”

Ikkyu scoffed at that. “You’re always up late in the lab working on a project. That is why today we are going out. You need to get some air.”

“I am not going anywhere with you. Leave me alone.”

“I will go get the super secret weapon if you don’t get up on your own.”

“What?” Kent did not know what Ikkyu was talking about, and he would very much like to go back to sleep. None of this made much sense, though it was annoying.

“And if you make any of them cry, you know that there will be hell to pay because sometimes they still mix them up at a distance. Now everyone is a bit used to you upsetting Kokoa, but you know that if you should harm my beloved princess—”

“Just because that’s the kanji she chose for her name does not mean you should go about calling Naruki that all the time. You are ridiculous.”

“Maybe, but even Mom and Dad think you’ve been spending too much time in the lab. And if they think so, then it’s gotten really bad. Look, you can’t make this town accept us any more than they have by adding another invention to make life easier. They don’t even want most of the basic ones we gave them. It won’t make up for anything, either.”

Kent glared at him. “And just what, Ikkyu, do you think I have to make up for?”

“I have no idea. I mean, most of us owe you our lives—”

“That is not—”

“Mom and Dad got us out of there, but they were there for _you._ If not for you, they’d never have found out we were there. So… we owe you.” Ikkyu shrugged. “Not that we mind. We’re all grateful. Well, those of us who are mostly well adjusted, at least. Not sure I can say that about Toma or at least one of Ukyo’s personalities.”

Kent shook his head. “I had intended to sleep. Go away.”

“Not gonna happen. Come on. We’re going out for the day. Family picnic.”

Kent considered saying something about how none of them were his family—he alone had blood ties to his parents, even if they had adopted the others—but that was a petty remark that would only serve to antagonize Ikkyu, who was already rather intractable about this matter.

Kent, though, was in no mood to socialize. “You will regret this.”

Ikkyu only laughed.

* * *

“Do we have everything, my lovelies?” Ikki asked, needing a moment to separate Naruki from her sister. Kent could always tell which one was Kokoa, though it wasn’t hard when they tended to fight as often as they did. Aine made it easy, too, since she was always humming or singing, but Yumeka tended to be quieter. Minori wasn’t that difficult to spot, since she was always near Toma, following around “big brother” like some kind of lost puppy.

That was actually a disturbing metaphor, now that he thought about it.

“We’re just about ready,” Kokoa said, and Ikki saw her stash something into Ken’s box that she clearly didn’t want him sharing with anyone else. He tried not to grin. “Did Shin or Aine say they’d come this time? I know Minori said she wanted to stay with Toma, but he’ll go if Shin goes and Aine might have talked him into it.”

Ikki knew that, but he hadn’t really wanted to push that much. As much as he enjoyed going out as a group, he’d actually been interested in trying to get Ken and Kokoa to do some real talking instead of arguing, and while they were doing that, he could probably get Naruki alone for a long overdue conversation. He wasn’t sure what the girls in town had told her, but she’d been mad at him for weeks and wouldn’t speak to him. She was only going today because Kokoa had asked her to, and he had a feeling she was rather sick of being the go-between for him and Naruki.

“What the hell is this?”

“Someone else woke up grumpy this morning, I see,” Ikki observed, a bit amused to see Shin come in. Shin grunted, about as pleased to see him as he was anyone other than Aine.

“Shut up, Ikki.”

“Don’t start,” Kokoa said, though she seemed to be looking around in the hopes that Aine might come and spare them a bit of Shin’s grumpiness. Or she could just be looking for Ken. That wouldn’t surprise Ikki, either.

“I didn’t do anything,” Shin continued to grumble, about to take a bento box when Naruki smacked his hand.

“That one is mine. I’ve already packed Ikki’s bag. If you wanted some, you should have told us you were coming, but you didn’t. Instead, you made Aine cry.”

“What?”

“She was really upset with what you said, Shin. Don’t you know any nicer way of speaking? We know why you are the way you are, and Aine loves you in spite of that, but sometimes it’s hard to see why she would because you’re always so gruff with her.”

“I am not.”

“Oh, but we never get to see those tender moments when you’re alone,” Ikki teased. Shin glared at him, but what he said was true. If Shin was kind to her, that happened in private. Since Aine still liked him—and wasn’t a complete masochist—Ikki had to assume he was nicer to her when they were alone. Still, since no one saw that, most of them just got annoyed with him. He could afford to relax a bit and show he cared, though it wasn’t likely he would.

From what Ikki understood, the lab used that against him and Toma back then, with Toma taking a lot of punishment to protect his younger brother and Shin hating himself for it. He didn’t want anyone to care about him because that meant getting hurt.

Even without the experiments they’d done a hell of a lot of damage to him.

“Whatever. Any of you know what Kent was talking about with Mamayeka?”

Ikki shook his head. “I left him plotting revenge while he dressed and grumbled about going with us. I had no idea he was going in to see Mom.”

“He has been very distracted lately,” Kokoa said, frowning. She would know almost better than anyone, Ikki supposed. She’d been helping a lot in the lab lately, saying she wanted to be useful, and Ken did accept her help in spite of their infamous arguments. Ikki had his own work, so he didn’t see Ken as often as she did.

“Kent can be kind of obsessive when it comes to research,” Naruki agreed. “Though sometimes I think it would be better if _some_ people were more focused on that.”

Ikki frowned. Was that supposed to be about him? He didn’t like that at all. “You know, if this is about that girl Rika—”

“I didn’t say I was talking about you. Though it is kind of funny you assumed it was when I mentioned someone not doing enough work.”

“Naruki—”

“Don’t start,” Shin said. “We all know how little you think of Ikki. He’s a terrible human being. We got it. No need for repeats.”

“Excuse me? I am not like that. Rika and those friends of hers are going too far. I can’t help what my eyes do to them, you all know that. You’ve seen it. If it was something I could turn off, I would. I’m just lucky it doesn’t work on any of the girls here.”

“Are we really fighting again?” Aine asked as she came into the room with Toma and Minori trailing behind her. “I thought we were supposed to have a nice day out today.”

“Don’t worry. We can call a truce for the picnic.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m not going.”

“Really, Shin?” Aine asked, her eyes a bit bright, and when Shin looked at her, he just about cursed before looking away.

“Fine, I’ll go. Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

* * *

“Mother?”

Ayeka looked up, smiling at her son as he came into the room, ducking under the too short doorway. This house had not been built for tall men, though he and Daichi were the only ones who had to duck. Ikki could pass through most without incident, and while he was technically not the next tallest after Kent, Ukyo tended to hunch over no matter where he was walking, as if that would somehow prevent his darker nature from escaping.

She knew that to be untrue, but she had few other coping mechanisms to offer him, and neither she nor Daichi had enough expertise in that field. She would have liked to have taken him and the others to that sort of professional, but she did not know who they could trust. Anyone that knew of the children’s survival could end up betraying them to the people who had done so much harm to them, people who had ties to the government and many with money or power.

Everything had to be weighed against that, even if the cost seemed great.

She did not want to discuss that with Kent now. As the oldest and intelligent as he was, he understood better than most their situation, though she had never wanted it carried on shoulders so young. Oh, he had grown into a fine young man, but he had been a child like the others when they left the lab. He should not have been forced to do so much to help them.

“I thought you would already be gone by now,” she said as Kent got closer. His eyes narrowed at her, not that she hadn’t already known he was unhappy with something.

“I take it you were a part of this ill-conceived plan to go outdoors _en masse?”_

She nodded, taking his hands. “You work too much. Too much time shut indoors is not good for you. You know this. You lack proper levels of vitamin D, at least, and I do not wish for you to have as much trouble with your health as your father and I have.”

Kent shook his head, taking the stool next to her. “I do not think it wise to be outside.”

“You can’t argue the health benefits.”

“No, I cannot, and I know that… It may seem foolish, but after having the same dream every night for the past month… I believe we may have run out of time.”

Ayeka nodded. She understood that. Many times she’d wondered about their ability to stay in one place for so long, even if they had only been able to do so because the area lacked much in the way of technology or connection to the outside world. This place was one she could say had been “forgotten by time,” its outlook and progression several decades behind the rest of the world.

“Such a thing has always seemed inevitable, but it was always our hope that by then, all of you would be capable of seeing to your own needs.”

Kent shook his head. “It is not that we are not adults, though some of us have less… adaptability than others and should not be on their own. Ikkyu, Shin, even perhaps Toma can manage it. Ukyo… I do not think he can. As for the others...”

Ayeka studied him. “What is it? You need not hold back with me. You know this.”

He took his glasses off and rubbed at his face. “I… We always feared the cloning process was imperfect. I… I believe they are starting to deteriorate.”

She knew this was not entirely unexpected, but it was still not easy to hear. “This is what you have been working on lately?”

Kent nodded. “I first noticed a few strange changes in Kokoa. She tired easily, seemed flushed often, and has been ill more in the past year than ever before. Ikkyu, of course, tried to tell me that was something else, something ridiculous, but I did not believe that. Gathering samples from the others as well, I’ve found what I believe is cellular degeneration. While it is true we all experience it as we age, the amount in the girls’ case is more consistent with someone elderly.”

Ayeka said nothing at first, instead choosing to pull Kent close and hold him against her. She had not been one for this when he was younger, but adding in nine additional children had taught her much about being a mother. Her son needed her, even as he tried to carry this burden on his own, tried not to alarm the others, all of whom would be devastated to hear the truth.

“I don’t know how to tell them. I thought… there are treatments for certain degenerative diseases, but if this is because of the cloning process itself… There may be nothing we can do.”

Ayeka knew that. She and Daichi had discussed it years ago, but that was before any of them had become family. There had been much to understand about what had been done to each of the children—though in Kent’s case they remained ignorant, as none of the relevant data had been present or entered into the computer when they found him; he remained symptom-less so far, so they did not worry overmuch about it—and though she and Daichi knew the basics of the cloning process that had led to the five girls, they did not have the full details nor the equipment or raw material needed to replicate it.

Besides, if they had proved nothing else, it was that each girl was unique regardless of her origin.

“I will speak to your father. We will determine the best course of action.”

“It can’t be hidden forever.”

“No, of course not. We would not do that to them nor ask you to keep such a secret.”


	2. Additonal Scenes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokoa shares her fears about being a clone. Ikki shares his fears about his abilities. Kent shares his fears about what happened in a storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are just some more scenes I had for this story for various prompts. One was done as a part of the Math Dorks series for gardening and later taken out. The one about the rain ruining a date was a request that somehow ended up in this universe.

* * *

“Do you think it matters which one of us was the first one? The… real one?”

Kent looked over at her and frowned, and she almost regretted asking, but she did think that Kent was one of few people she _could_ ask, and not just because she was asking about their big secret. She knew that the others in town wouldn’t understand if they knew the truth. They weren’t bad people, but they’d already shown that they weren’t interested in science and tended to hesitate to use any of the inventions Kents’ parents made for them to improve their lives.

“It is impossible to know,” Kent told her, and she knew that. His parents said the same thing, and she trusted the Mizutanis. They’d been the only decent scientists in that place, and they were the reason that she and the others were free now. “There is no marker in any of your genetic codes that shows a sign of the duplication process, and no obvious alterations between you and your… siblings. You are all the same.”

“Which could mean we’re all clones and none of us is original.”

Kent nodded. “Yes, though I do not know that it matters. You are all individuals, as you yourself have asserted many times—rather loudly, I might add—with semi-distinct personalities, if nothing else.”

“Semi-distinct?” That didn’t sound good at all.

“There is some overlap, you must admit that. Not so much to where I can’t tell that I am talking to Kokoa right now and not one of the other four, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some shared traits between you and the others. All of you are quite emotional, after all.”

She grimaced. “You would say that. You’re not emotional enough. Sometimes we think you must be a robot your parents created in that lab.”

Kent took off his glasses and sighed. “That has been disproven, you know. Not only is my failing eyesight one indication of my humanity, I bleed as well.”

That didn’t stop the talk about him being an android, though, some kind of cyborg, a mix of man and machine. Ikki got so mad when anyone said it, and Kent just seemed tired of it. Still, with all of them having some kind of weirdness to them, was it really fair that Kent wasn’t a part of the experiments, too?

Of course it was. She didn’t wish experimentation on anyone. Just look at what it had done to Ikki’s eyes or her with her four “sisters.” Shin and Toma were damaged by it, too, and Ukyo’s split personality terrified her. Kent didn’t deserve any part of that, especially not when his parents had been the ones to stop it from continuing. They’d found the truth of that horrible place and saved them all from it. Kent was how they learned about the other lab, and they all owed him.

That didn’t make him easy to deal with, but she couldn’t wish him harm, either. She knew he’d worked hard to nurse a lot of them back to health, too, since they were all undernourished. The other scientists were afraid of them being able to fight against the experiments, so they didn’t let them get strong.

She didn’t even know how many other children had died in that place. They were the lucky ones, and she didn’t feel that lucky.

“Has someone suggested that you have no value because you are… similar to the others?”

She shook her head. “I don’t… it’s just… when we’re all the same like this… Doesn’t it mean that people see us as interchangeable? That… I don’t know, that dating one of us would be like dating all of us… that… we…”

Kent shook his head. “More flawed reasoning. Tell me, would you believe that of twins or triplets born naturally?”

“No.”

“Of course not. You doubt that distinction because you are clones, but you are unique. I said there is overlap, but I still know you from your sisters. I am not the only one who thinks so. Each of you is different, just as I am not the same as Ikkyu, Shin, Toma, or… Ukyo.”

“You can call him by his name even if he does have two personalities.”

Kent nodded. “That is not the point. The point is that you are a person, same as we are, regardless of your origin.”

“You really think so? I mean, you’re a scientist and logical and… shouldn’t you see us as just an experiment?”

Kent shook his head. “I could never see you as just an experiment.”

She bit her lip, wanting to believe him and hold onto that warm feeling that just settled over her even as she felt a bit nervous, too, with butterflies in her stomach. Kent saw her as a person, not just a clone, and that meant everything to her.

She grabbed hold of him and hugged him, and he stiffened in her hold. “Thank you, Kent.”

“Um… yes… you are welcome… I… Ikkyu, stop laughing and get her off me.”

She looked over to see Ikki standing there with one of her sisters, both of them smiling. She knew she was, too, since getting Kent flustered was kind of funny. He was actually adorable like that, not that she’d ever tell him that.

“We were just looking for you,” Ikki said. “Shin made dinner, and Mom and Dad say they have something to discuss with us.”

She tensed, but Kent put a hand on her head. “It is unlikely it’s something bad. How many times has it been unpleasant news since we left the lab?”

“Um… twice?”

“Four times,” Ikki corrected, grimacing. “I mean, that whole rock incident with Toma was pretty bad. And Ukyo… well… let’s not discuss that. All and all, though, things are usually good when Mom and Dad call a family meeting over dinner.”

“Yes, as bad news spoils appetites and proper nutrition is essential to everyone’s continued growth and health.”

She had to smile at that. Kent’s parents were so logical about stuff like that, too, and it was clear where he got it from, even cute, though sometimes it made the rest of them feel a little left out, as Kent was their only biological child. Not Ikki. He called them Mom and Dad—Kent preferred Mother and Father—and had adopted them even more than they’d adopted him.

“Come along,” Kent said, prodding her forward. “You need to eat as well.”

* * *

“Ikkyu, you know that is not ripe.”

Ikki sighed. Of course it wasn’t, not completely, but it looked good, and he was hungry. It was Toma’s turn to make dinner tonight, not one of the girls, though knowing at least one of them, she’d be in helping. She had the biggest crush on “big brother” Toma, and the only thing cuter was the one Kokoa had on Ken even though she was in complete denial about it.

The crushes girls had on Ikki were not so cute, since they were just because of his eyes and not because of anything meaningful. He didn’t know what those bastards at the lab were attempting to do when they made his eyes like this—mind control? Only it didn’t work on men, so why bother? Not that he couldn’t get a lot of stuff with them from women, but he didn’t see how making one half of the population hate him was a good thing.

“What is bothering you?”

Ikki sighed. He must be pretty obvious for Ken to pick up on it, since Ken wasn’t good with emotions and the robot rumors persisted to this day despite all the proof otherwise. He forced himself to relax his fist. He knew better than to get worked up over that. Ken never did anymore. He was just tired of it and didn’t see why the comments would continue when the idea was already proven false—the glasses, the times he bled because he was a klutz and ran into things when distracted, and even the emotions he’d been known to show.

Ikki swore Ken still mourned that cat. Not that it should surprise anyone. Ken felt stuff pretty deeply all the same, and that cat had loved Ken best of anyone, which was rare and made him all the more special to Ken, who’d been devastated when he succumbed to old age.

“Ikkyu?”

Ikki looked up from the plant and over at his friend. “Do you think it’s my fault?”

Ken set down his pruning sheers and took off his gloves. “Is what your fault? Are we talking about your eyes again?”

“Yes. I… I know that I do talk about it too much, but I can’t help it. I can’t not think about it, either. If I go anywhere outside the house, women follow me. And the men glare at me. I’ve even heard some talk of...”

“Castration?”

“Yes. That. Among other things.” Ikki grimaced. “I haven’t done anything. I could, but the most I ever do is charm someone out of a cookie or something when I’m hungry.”

“I know that. We all do. The villagers may not understand, but they are on the whole ignorant.”

“Don’t say it like that. It’s not like they’re stupid. We just came from the city, which is almost a hundred times more advanced than this little town where time stood still until we took refuge here. I mean, they weren’t even using electricity, and that’s not new. They’re not used to technology, and they’d never understand people like us, manipulated and even born in a lab.”

“No, they would not.”

“Still… do you think that’s why they made them?”

“What?”

“The girls. They’re all immune to my eyes, so… do you think that’s why they cloned them? Because they didn’t get affected, so they had to have more of them to study? Is it my fault?”

Ken shook his head. “No, Ikkyu. It is not your fault. I doubt that they cloned the girls for something so specific. I think that they were… She was a test to see if it was possible, but I’d be more inclined to believe they simply wanted an endless supply of test subjects. With identical bodies, they’d truly be able to compare the effects of any drug or manipulation, and that… that I fear is why they were cloning the girls. It may well have come to that with you or Shin or Toma… I sincerely hope not with Ukyo, but one cannot say for certain. My parents believed it best to destroy all their research lest someone follow it, though they kept pieces they thought would be needed for everyone’s health.”

Ikki nodded. He wanted to believe that, though some days it was easier than others.

“Ken—”

“You need not say it again.”

“Yes, I do,” Ikki said, going over to hug his brother despite Ken tensing up over it. “I know it’s wrong to be grateful for someone else’s suffering, and I’m not, I swear I’m not, but if those bastards hadn’t taken you to use in one of their experiments and your parents hadn’t found you… we’d all still be living that nightmare.”

“I doubt that. Now get off of me.”

“No.”

“Ikkyu—”

“Just a bit longer, Ken.”

“Very well.”

* * *

“It’s raining,” Kokoa said, staring out at the fields in dismay. This couldn’t be happening. She’d been planning this for weeks now, after talking to Ikki and getting both laughter and advice. He had thought it was hilarious she didn’t know why she and Kent fought so much these days, and at first she had rejected the idea, but the more she thought about it and after being so mad at her own sisters for spending time with Kent, she knew it had to be true.

All that was left, then, was telling him, which was supposed to be today.

It was supposed to be on a picnic, in private, when he’d had a chance to eat all his favorites and seen that she had potential as a wife, too, not just someone to debate with—she did know she was at least his favorite for that, even over Ikki, but that wasn’t what she wanted from Kent, not anymore.

“Weather is difficult to predict, even for meteorologists.”

She nodded, feeling completely stupid. She’d put so much into this, and it wasn’t going to happen at all now. That made her feel like maybe she shouldn’t tell Kent at all. He didn’t like her that way, she was almost sure of it, and he probably didn’t want her to say it.

“The food will still be edible, I suppose,” Kent said, and she looked up at him, trying to find a smile. He was right about that, they could still eat it, though someone would probably come along and steal some.

“Okay. Let’s eat it… um… somewhere private.”

He frowned at her, but before he spoke, lightning lit the sky, and thunder boomed nearby. He seemed to shudder and started walking away from her. “I am going back to the lab.”

“But… the food… you said...”

“I need to go.”

She ran after him, not understanding. He did have a rule about no food in the lab, but Ikki broke that all the time—half of the time to make sure Kent or his parents were eating—and he’d told her he’d put aside all experiments today because she’d asked him in advance for the picnic. He didn’t have to run off like that.

“Kent,” she said, catching his arm, “are you… are you afraid of the storm?”

“No. Yes. I...” Kent put a hand to his head. “It… It’s not the rain. Usually rain is not an issue. You know this. And lightning is, in fact, a fascinating phenomenon, but the thunder… I...”

“Why is thunder not as fascinating as lightning? You research everything, so I… I guess I don’t understand. I’d like to, though.”

Kent sighed. “I… That night… it was the thunder that woke me… and then I understood what they were about to do to me… It’s foolish.”

“Oh, Kent,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and holding onto him. He just stood there the way he always did when the others hugged him, but then the thunder boomed again, and he hugged her close, holding on like he needed her.

A very selfish part of her liked that idea.

“I just… need a minute...”

“Take as long as you want,” she said, wondering if she could really help him like this. Maybe she didn’t need a picnic and proof she was a woman now who wanted his attention in _that_ way. Maybe she just needed to be able to help him like this.

“You shouldn’t offer such tempting things. I… I would hate to become dependent on this.”

She looked up at him. “I like being able to do something for you for a change.”

He smiled at her. He didn’t kiss her, like she almost hoped he might, but he at least didn’t let her go, and she figured the rain hadn’t ruined everything after all.


End file.
